Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Inscribed by Tim Page on half title page. Hardcover and dust jacket. Shelf wear. Binding slightly cocked. Small markings on front end page, else unmarked. *Autographed by editor.*. Signed.
Language: Spanish
Published by Lumen, Editorial, Barcelona, 2004
Seller: Llibrenet, Sant Feliu del Raco, B, Spain
Signed
Encuadernación de tapa blanda. Condition: Como Nuevo. Dust Jacket Condition: Como Nuevo. Novela (illustrator). 2Ş Edición. Título original: The Wicked Pavillion Biblioteca Dawn Powell. Sello del anterior propietario.
Language: English
Published by Henry Holt, New York, 1998
ISBN 10: 080505068X ISBN 13: 9780805050684
Seller: Bookfever, IOBA (Volk & Iiams), Ione, CA, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Condition: FINE. First printing. The first full-length biography of this mid-century American author (Hemingway called her his favorite living author) whose work was almost unknown until a fairly spectacular revival in the 1990's. Gore Vidal called this biography 'not only a distinguished work in itself but [it] illuminates one of our most brilliant - certainly most witty - novelists, whose literary reputation continues to grow long after her death; we are catching up to her.' Frontispiece and glossy photographic inserts. Notes, bibliography, index. INSCRIBED by Page on the title page and dated March 2002 in Charlottesville. 362 pp Fine in fine dust jacket.
Language: English
Published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1998
ISBN 10: 080505068X ISBN 13: 9780805050684
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1998]. First Edition with full number line. Octavo; publisher's two-toned boards in unclipped photo-illustrated dust jacket; xv,[1],362pp.; eight leaves of photographic plates printed on rectos and versos. Light wear and a few bumps to jacket and board margins, faint surfaced scratches to jacket panels, else Very Good and sound. Warmly inscribed and signed on title page, "For David, editor and friend, who gave me the time off to write this book -- Warmest, Tim Page / September 9, 1998 / Washington." Page had just received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his music reviews in the Washington Post.
Language: English
Published by Cauliay Publishing and Distribution, 2008
ISBN 10: 0955899230 ISBN 13: 9780955899232
Seller: Loudoun Books Ltd, GALSTON, AYRSH, United Kingdom
Signed
US$ 13.83
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSoft cover. Condition: Very Good. Very Good - signed dedication on title page, is this Dawn Alexander? You decide. Some light shelf wear, front cover curled slightly otherwise looks unread and Like New. Inscribed by Author(s).
Language: English
Published by The Viking Press, New York, 1962
Seller: Dale Steffey Books, ABAA, ILAB, Bloomington, IN, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR at front end page -"To Jennie Muller sincerely Dawn Powell". Near Fine, very slight soiling to boards, in Near Fine dust jacket, just a hint of wear at spine ends. Dust jacket art by Robert Jonas. Her last novel. A quite lovely copy. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR.
Hardcover. Octavo, 8 x 5.5 inches. #15/300 copies signed by the author on the limitation page. Precedes the first trade edition. White paper-covered boards stamped in gilt on spine. Short closed tear limitation page, half inch stain front panel, near fine in custom mylar cover. ; Signed by Author(s).
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1942
Seller: Stone Soup Books, Camden, ME, U.S.A.
Signed
hardcover. Condition: Very Good-. 2nd printing. 1942 Charles Scribner's Sons, blue cloth hardcover without dust jacket, corners lightly rubbed, Inscribed by Dawn Powell to the artist Peggy Bacon on the front endpaper, (first names only) interior pages are clean, 334 pages.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952
Seller: Stone Soup Books, Camden, ME, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
hardcover. Condition: Very Good-. 1st Ed. 1952 Houghton Mifflin Company, First Edition, hardcover without dust jacket, cover edges lightly soiled, Inscribed by Dawn Powell to the artist Peggy Bacon on the front endpaper, (first names only), interior pages are clean, 212 pages.
Published by Brentano's, New York, 1929
Seller: Earl The Pearls, Edmond, OK, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. AZ651 "There has been printed prior to publication an edition of three hundred numbered copies, each signed by the author. This is number 223" Some pages uncut, darkening to spine and edges. Signed by Author(s).
Published by Brentano's, New York, 1929
Seller: Earl The Pearls, Edmond, OK, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. AZ651 "There has been printed prior to publication an edition of three hundred numbered copies, each signed by the author. This is number 223" Some pages uncut, darkening to spine and edges. Signed by Author(s).
Published by Brentano's, New York, 1929
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First edition, limited issue, preceding the trade edition. Japanese vellum with gilt lettering and decoration as issued. Bookplate on the front pastedown, moderately spine-cocked and a little rubbed, a nice, very good copy, issued without dust jacket. Copy # 272 of 300 numbered copies Signed by the author. A nice copy of the author's only limited edition, and her second acknowledged book, after *She Walks in Beauty*, and her repudiated first novel *Whither*.
Published by An Avon Book, (New York), 1964
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Softcover. Condition: Fair. First paperback edition. Pages toned, some chipping on the margins on a few pages and on the wrappers, a poor but mostly sound copy. Inscribed by the author to author and close friend Hannah Green (author of *I Never Promised You a Rose Garden*): "Hannah - Wow - Pow" with an arrow pointing to the first line of promotional copy in the book, which starts "A kind of heterosexual *The Group*.".
Published by W. H. Allen, London, 1955
Seller: Bookfever, IOBA (Volk & Iiams), Ione, CA, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Condition: VERY GOOD. First UK printing. Powell's first - and only - collection of short stories, selected by Powell as the best of the many she had pVery good in a goodonly dust jacket (light toning to the pages, edgewear and chipping to the upper edge of the dust jacket spine, toning to the spine and the white background of the back cover of the dj, )ublished in the New Yorker and elsewhere. Although the quality of these eighteen stories is a bit uneven, some - including the wonderful first story 'You Should Have Brought Your Mink' - capture in a few pages the themes of her novels. Boldly and warmly INSCRIBED on the front endpaper "To dearest Pamela & George, this lesson in sheer ugliness - (I mean the jacket!), Love, Dawn" with an addendum about her signature "I never made a D like that before." 202 pp. Very good in a good only dust jacket (light toning to the pages, edgewear and chipping to the upper edge of the dust jacket spine, toning to the spine and the white background of the back cover of the dj, ).
Published by [New York, 1930
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Oblong octavo. String-tied cloth photograph album or scrapbook with blank black pages. Five pages of single-spaced typed text, each page of text facing a captioned ink drawing by Dawn Powell; along with a large manuscript label on the front board. Label a little darkened and smudged, small nicks and tears on the album pages, and a little toning to the text, overall very good for the materials used. A highly curious and very eccentric illustrated manuscript by Dawn Powell, from the effects of her longtime friend, and reputed lover Coburn Gilman. Though styled as a children's story, it is anything but, and displays an improvisational and mercurial nature, beginning "Now shut up said the Colonel, and let me tell one. Kiddies, he continued, how many here can tell me what is the capitol of South Carolina? Knowing that a story was under way the kiddies settled back and ordered a fresh round in a rather tough joint not half a mile from where the Colonel was speaking." The thoroughly disjointed narrative involves, in part, the efforts by the Colonel to ascertain for Good King Irving who "had been stealing ergots from the Men's Locker." The typescript concludes: "Let your betters talk, advised the Colonel tossing her [little Alice, aged 1 month] out the window with a twinkle. And that is why they call me Sammy the Stout-heart or who cocked Bob Tiller, a chidren's story," followed by a four-line manuscript postscript. Powell's drawings are imaginative and whimsical, and not a little influenced by her friendly colleague James Thurber. While this volume is of questionable literary merit, the album has considerable charm, and was likely prepared as a one-off gift for her boon companion Gilman. Early manuscript material by Powell - even as eccentric as this one - is highly uncommon on the market.
Published by Farrar and Rinehart, New York, 1938
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. First edition. Spine slightly toned, very near fine lacking the dust jacket. Elaborately and facetiously Inscribed by Powell: "To Henry Morgan. from his idol Dawn Powell (Mrs. Humphrey Ward). Paris, October 4, 1876. 'Would that us two were marrying[?]'." On the rear free endpaper Powell has used the entire page to pencil in the names of the "Cast" (or characters in the book), for what reason is unclear. It is likely that the recipient was Powell's close friend (and occasional antagonist) Edmund Wilson: in some of their elaborate correspondence Powell portrayed and signed herself as the 19th Century novelist, Mrs. Humphrey Ward. An amusing and intriguing inscription in one of the author's scarcest titles.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First edition. Front hinge neatly strengthened, light offsetting on first two leaves, corners bumped, good or better in modestly chipped dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: "For George I love. Dawn". The author's scarce first collection of short stories.
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1948
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First edition. Small initials at top of front fly, corners bumped, very good in chipped and spine-sunned good or better dust jacket with moderate overall wear. This copy Signed by the author: "Sincerely, Dawn Powell." A signed copy of a novel considered one of Powell's best novels, edited by Maxwell Perkins, a satirical tale of gold-digging, lost love and literary rivalry in Greenwich Village.
Published by Viking, New York, 1962
ISBN 10: 067034480X ISBN 13: 9780670344802
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First edition. Fine in near fine dust jacket with a couple of tiny nicks and tears. Inscribed by Powell to Jackie Rice on the half title: "with love these many generations. Dawn. 5 Oct 1962." Although not designated as such, from the library of Jacqueline Miller Rice, the wife of Black Mountain College painter Dan Rice, and perhaps Powell's closest friend over the last decade of her life. Rice was present at Powell's deathbed, and was Powell's literary executrix. Unfortunately her neglect of that estate resulted, among other things, in the burial of Powell on Hart Island, New York City's "potter's field," as well as for the correspondence of many scholars interested in Powell and her works to go unanswered. Powell's last novel and one of her best: midwesterner comes to the big city to uncover his true father when he learns his birth is the result of his mother's brief but wild sojourn in Greenwich Village. Powell applies her wit and furious action ensues. A novel by one of America's best but least known authors, with an important association. A very nice copy.
Published by Houghton, Mifflin, Boston, 1954
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First edition. A touch of rubbing else fine in very good or better Reginald Marsh-illustrated dust jacket with a couple of small chips and tears. Inscribed by Powell to an author of travel books, adventurer, and Powell's longtime friend and drinking buddy, Hassoldt Davis: "To Hassoldt (Hello-Goodbye) Davis with fondest thoughts. Dawn. New York. 95°." Ernest Hemingway once described Davis's travel writing as "fantastic . . . magnificent." Powell was a prolific and well-regarded author, but mostly forgotten until a well-deserved revival was prompted by a 1987 reassessment by Gore Vidal in *The New York Review of Books*. For forty years she was a valued jewel of the New York literary world and if you read her books it's easy to see why. At the time of her death all of her books were out of print, now almost all are back in print, including two collections of her novels was published by The Library of America. A nice copy, with a nice association.
Published by Constable, London, 1936
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First English edition. Corners a little bumped, top stain a little rubbed else very near fine in a nice, near fine dust jacket with some shallow chips and short tears. Inscribed by the author using the entire front fly: "To F. Monaghan, with the laciest of valentine wishes, Dawn Powell. P.S. Is there cause here (in v.1.) for a World's Fair? Or do you feel that it merely deals with Time? On this subject I think you will find it the definitive volume, dealing with the three schools (a) Is Time a pipe? (b) Is Time a 6 o'clock train? (c) Is Time just papa dressed up? Dr. Powell says yes to all these moots pts." Powell has also crossed out the incorrect title of one of her books on the front flap (*The Bride's House*, here rendered by the English publisher as *The Birdie House*). By consensus the best novel on New York's bohemian life by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who has only fairly recently been rediscovered. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called her a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist," and Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of the biography of Powell by Tim Page in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently (although she was married), and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from bohemian artists to wealthy tycoons. An exceptionally scarce book, especially with such a fulsome, if curious, inscription.
Published by Constable, London, 1936
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Good. First English edition. Professionally rebacked, preserving the original boards, spine, and endpapers, a presentable good copy lacking the dust jacket. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell case. Inscribed by the author: "To Ben Wasson after the Japanese etchings (very happy). Dawn Powell." Wasson was an author, editor, and literary agent, and the close friend of William Faulkner. Wasson convinced publisher Harcourt, Brace and Harrison Smith, to publish Faulkner's novel (then called *Flags in the Dust*) if Wasson would edit it, which he did for $50. The novel was eventually published as *Sartoris*. By consensus the best novel on New York's bohemian life by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who has only fairly recently been rediscovered. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called her a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist," and Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel, *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of the biography of Powell by Tim Page in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently (although she was married), and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from bohemian artists to wealthy tycoons. An exceptionally scarce book, especially with such a fulsome inscription.
Published by Brentano's, New York, 1929
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First trade edition (and the first issue to be issued in dust jacket), stated "Second printing", preceded slightly by a limited and signed issue. Small octavo. Modest fraying at the spine ends, a couple of tiny worm holes in bottom edge, else very good in very good dust jacket with some corresponding shallow chipping at the spine ends and extremities. Inscribed by Powell: "To Mary Serra[?] with the compliments of her pastor. Dawn Powell." In our experience, the jacketed trade edition is many times scarcer than the limited edition.
Published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1934
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. First edition. Chip at corner of the half-title, affecting no text, rubbing and soiling on the boards, a good copy in poor, remnants only of the dust jacket, lacking the full spine and other significant bits. Inscribed by Powell to Jackie Rice on the half title: "To Jackie with all my love. Dawn Powell." Jacqueline Miller Rice was the wife of Black Mountain College painter Dan Rice, and perhaps Powell's closest friend over the last decade of her life. Rice was present at Powell's deathbed, and was Powell's literary executrix. Unfortunately her neglect of that estate resulted, among other things, in the burial of Powell on Hart Island, New York City's "potter's field", as well as for the correspondence of many scholars interested in Powell and her works to go unanswered. A novel about the evolution of a "self-made man" from a humble country bumpkin to a pretentious captain of industry, by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who has recently been rediscovered. Basis for the 1935 film *Man of Iron* directed by William C. McGann, and featuring Barton MacLane and Mary Astor. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called her a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist," and Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel, *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of a fairly recent biography of Powell in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently although she was married, and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from bohemian artists to wealthy tycoons. A significant, if in many ways melancholic, association.
Published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1934
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First edition. Orange cloth gilt. Modest sunning and edgewear at the spine, a very good copy lacking the dust jacket. Inscribed by the author on the page facing the title page to author and illustrator Peggy Bacon: "To Peggy from her idol. Dawn." Bscon drew several portraits of Powell, and they maintained a difficult if long-lived friendship. A novel about the evolution of a "self-made man" from a humble country bumpkin to a pretentious captain of industry, by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who has recently been rediscovered. Basis for the 1935 film *Man of Iron* directed by William C. McGann, and featuring Barton MacLane and Mary Astor. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called her a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist," and Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel, *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of a fairly recent biography of Powell in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently although she was married, and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from bohemian artists to wealthy tycoons. A very uncommon title to find signed.
Published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1934
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First edition. Rebound by the publisher in full black morocco gilt. Dawn Powell's own copy with her ownership Signature, and a printed parchment slip laid into the book stating: "With the compliments of - Stanley M. Rinehart, Jr. / John Farrar / Frederick R. Rinehart." It was a tradition with some mid-Century American publisher to present their author's with a specially bound copy of each of their new books as they were published. A novel about the evolution of a "self-made man" from humble country bumpkin to a pretentious captain of industry, by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who has after some time in obscurity been rediscovered. Basis for the 1935 film *Man of Iron* directed by William C. McGann, and featuring Barton MacLane and Mary Astor. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called Powell a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist." Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel, *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of the Tim Page biography of Powell in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently although she was married, and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from bohemian artists to wealthy tycoons. A unique copy.
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1942
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Edgewear to the boards, two pages roughly opened, thus very good in a bright, very good plus dust jacket with a tiny hole on the spine, and other light wear. Inscribed by Powell: "To Pat, with 90% of my love. Dawn." It's nice to know that Powell was keeping some love in reserve. A nice copy of an uncommon title, and one seldom found signed or inscribed.
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1948
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Spine ends a little toned, very good or better in spine-sunned very good or better dust jacket with some small nicks and tears. This copy Inscribed by Dawn Powell to Ann Honeycutt in a fake-drunk (or maybe real-drunk) manner: "To Ann Whatsername from Dan Pol (her hand)", followed by a particularly clumsy sketch of her hand. Honeycutt and Powell had a friendly, if complicated relationship and rivalry. Honeycutt was reportedly a fatally attractive woman, coveted by most of the male staff of the *New Yorker,* and was Thurber's longtime inamorata. She co-wrote a book *How to Raise a Dog in the City and the Suburbs* which was illustrated by James Thurber, as well as served as the host of the radio show *Music and Manners* analyzing popular songs with regular guest and sometimes co-host Dawn Powell. Honeycutt is mentioned frequently in Powell's diaries. A particularly nice association in what is considered one of Powell's best novels, edited by Maxwell Perkins, a satirical tale of gold-digging, lost love and literary rivalry in Greenwich Village.
Published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1936
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Some modest toning in the gutters, else near fine in near very good dust jacket with modest discoloration and staining, most pronounced on the rear panel, with a few smaller nicks and tears. This copy Inscribed by Powell to her lifelong friend, the French scholar and writer Jacques LeClercq: "To Jacques with prettiest sentiments, Dawn." LeClercq was a noted translator of Rabelais and Dumas, as well as a number of modern French texts, who moved in the same Greenwich Village circle as Powell and appears frequently in her diaries over a period of forty years. LeClercq was also the Dedicatee of Powell's novel, *The Story of a Country Boy*. From the estate of his daughter, the polio-stricken prima ballerina Tanaquil LeClercq, the final wife of George Balanchine. By consensus the best novel on New York's bohemian life by this satirical, proto-feminist novelist who was largely forgotten and then rediscovered. Gore Vidal, whose critical essay helped restore her fame, called her a better satirist than Twain and said she was "our best comic novelist," and Ernest Hemingway once told her she was his "favorite living novelist" although she was not averse to poking fun at Hemingway himself, which she did in her novel, *The Wicked Pavilion*. Novelist Lisa Zeidner, in a review of the recent biography of Powell in *The New York Times Book Review*, said that "she is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared." Powell was an archetypal free spirit, living much of her life in Greenwich Village, taking and flaunting lovers frequently although she was married, and mercilessly skewering the postures and foibles of an array of New York types, from the bohemian artists to the wealthy tycoons. An exceptionally scarce book, with a significant association.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Spine lettering a little tarnished and very light wear at the spine ends, else near fine in attractive, very good, price-clipped dustwrapper (with jacket art by Harold Cue), a couple of nicks and tears, and a modest crease on the spine from being slightly misfolded. Inscribed by Powell within a couple of weeks of publication (the book was issued in late February): "To a charming gentleman - , Dawn Powell, March 11 - 1925. New York." Powell's rare first novel, a blatantly autobiographical novel about a small-town girl in her twenties from the Midwest aspiring to become a writer in New York, haunting Greenwich Village, drinking in speakeasies, finding romance and success, and finally fitted up at the conclusion with an uncharacteristic and unbelievable happy ending. According to biographer Tim Page: "Powell disavowed the book almost immediately, well before her second novel *She Walks in Beauty*, was promoted as her debut in 1928. Thereafter, she refused even to acknowledge *Whither* in her biography or in lists of her publications.she.was quite put out when her young friend Hannah Green found a copy in a secondhand bookstore in the early 1960s." Powell later went out of her way to purchase and destroy copies, which may be why this is only the second jacketed copy, and the only Inscribed copy, that we've seen. *OCLC* cites 10 locations (how many have jackets we don't know), copies are seldom seen in the trade. A true rarity: an inscribed copy of the spurned first novel of an iconic New York writer, in the pretty near impossible jacket.